Hungry For A Trout Dinner–Fish Suwannee’s Barnett and Dan May Creeks This Winter!

There are lots of deep holes in creeks and rivers all along our Natural North Florida Gulf coastline, but few are as easily accessed as Dan May and Barnett Creeks.  These creeks are big–as big as many of our coastal rivers–and hold swarms of fat spotted seatrout during cold winter days.   There are several excellent …

A Natural North Florida Winter Traditon– Trout in Suwannee’s Coastal Creeks

There are probably no two wintertime trout spots on Florida’s Big Bend more famous than Dan May and Barnett creeks, south of the Suwannee River.   These are not piddling little ditches draining small patches of coastline, but big creeks that rival some of Florida rivers in overall size and tidal flow. January‘s deepening winter usually …

Start Searching For Cedar KeySheepshead, Winter 2015/16

While opportunities abound for anglers to target many species in our Natural North Florida area in January, it’s the thought of big sheepshead that really gets local folks excited. Cold winter weather sparks the natural spawning cycle of sheepshead and the big females, some as large as ten pounds, school over and near artificial and …

“Christmas Trout” on Natural North Florida’s Big Bend

On our Big Bend, in warmer months, slot-sized spotted seatrout tend to roam the grass-covered bottom from Yankeetown to St. Marks, feeding on pinfish, shrimp and just about anything that gets within range. That includes a myriad of artificial lures and baits, ranging from soft plastics rigged under popping corks to hard-bodied lures, retrieved with …

Sneak Off to the Big Bend’s Big Trout Rivers This Fall and Winter

In recent years, the days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day have almost become one long ‘holiday vacation’. With the exception of the retail sector, folks seem to slow down, work shorter days, and even sneak away during the middle of the week to take advantage of excellent cool-weather trout fishing. Cool weather and waters …

Fall Means Flounder on Our Natural North Florida Gulf Coast

Cooling Gulf of Mexico waters means that the fish, especially flounder, are hungry and willing to eat almost any bait presented them.  Flounder are voracious eaters, attacking small minnows (mostly killifish, or mud minnows), small mullet and shrimp.  They lay on the bottom near rocks, almost invisible except for their distinctive shape, both eyes facing …

Hungry For Spanish Mackerel? Fish Cedar Key’s Seahorse Reef and “The Hook”

There’s no doubt in my mind that the small islands that we now generally refer to as “Cedar Key” was once the upper end of a ridge of land that stretched well southwest into the Gulf of Mexico. But eons of time and moving water have worn down that peninsula, and it’s now mostly submerged, …

Looking For “Dallas Creek” in Taylor County? Try Spelling It, “Dallus”!

Don’t ask me, but Dallus Creek’s name is spelled with a “u” and not an “a”.  I’ve never seen it done that way, so I suspect someone went to Texas, had a bad time, and came home to “dis” the Texans! No matter, Dallus Creek is located between Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach, Fl.  It starts …

Florida’s 2015 Recreational Scallop Season to Close 9/24, But Don’t Despair!

In early June, the “buzz” along Florida’s Nature Coast is all about recreational scalloping.  The season usually opens the last Saturday in June, and folks at our Big Bend ports gear up for a busy season.  This year’s season was no exception, and limits of bay scallops just kept coming in, almost to the end …

Snook On The Big Bend? You Bet–Provided We Have a Warm Winter!

Snook are probably the most fun and abundant gamefish in Florida.  They run, they jump, and if you want to keep one for dinner during open season, they’re delicious to eat.  However, they’re also highly susceptible to cold water temperatures and are some of the first fish to be found floating dead after a hard …